Freelance Writing for Fun and Profit

Whether you look at freelance writing as a hobby or an impossible dream, this multi-million dollar industry can provide healthy roots for your professional writing life.

Start with Confidence – When you first start freelancing, you may be tempted to talk yourself down. After all, where are your credentials and awards? Remember, you are not promoting credentials and awards. You are promoting your unique view of the world coupled with a natural talent for the written word. Did you win a contest in grade school? Have you ever received high marks on creative writing assignments? Focus on positive past experiences, however humble, and you will be able to introduce yourself to editors with confidence.

Write What You Love – Whether you are sixteen or sixty, you have already amassed a large amount of knowledge about topics that interest you. Put your best foot forward and start contacting magazines and editors. Even if you’ve never written an article or press release before, you can do it! This is not rocket science. With a gutsy approach and a little faith, you, too, can land a freelance writing job that pays!

Don’t Re-Create the Wheel - Online and at your favorite bookstore, you will find abundant resources to help you write anything and everything. From articles to query letters, information is at your fingertips. So, do a little research. Take a moment or two to write down a list of your favorite topics. Then, seek out samples of queries and articles dealing with those topics. You will be amazed at how easy it is to move forward with your freelancing goals when you have a few examples on which to model your efforts. (See the book Six Figure Freelancing by Kelly James-Enger). 

Broaden Your Sales – Remember that most successful writers don’t use their research for just one story. They re-slant their research and write for different markets. For example, you could research the seven top foods that cause weight loss for a magazine like Prevention, then re-slant these facts for an article about weight loss after pregnancy for Parenting Magazine. Of course the research and expert quotes would need adjustment so that each article would be unique, but it’s amazing how much information you discover during the research phase that is not used in an original project.

Make the Editor Happy – Think about it. Every editor is inundated with project queries all day, everyday. What would you want if you were an editor; something fresh, creative and appealing to the magazine’s readership? When you think like an editor, you make an editor’s life a little easier. And, that translates into sales any day of the week!